Page 8 of Arrested By the Orc

She is indeed my bride. I’m beginning to understand the berserker brain fog that must’ve hit orcs of old, causing them to do something so outrageous as to stalk and kidnap a female in the dark of winter.

But I’ve already done the hard work and waited. It’s now spring and that means I can wait for consent, so I loosen my hold.

Her brow furrows. “What are you doing in here with me? Shouldn’t you be busy holding Amanda like this?” She huffs and fully steps free from my embrace and steps away. “Why don't you go back to your girlfriend and get hugs from her.”

“Girlfriend?” I ask with confusion.

She looks away and I see the other humans in the cell, boldly staring at us, listening to every word we say. I growl and they collectively take a step back and glance away.

Sadie lowers her voice. “You and Amanda are a couple, so why are you in here hugging me and acting like you are…I mean, that’s so rude. Of course I love hugging you too, but she’s right over there. Why would you do that?”

“Because I’m sexually attracted to you,” I admit, inhaling her reciprocal arousal for me that again fills the air. “And I’m tired of denying it. I want you in my bed, tonight, if you’ll accept.”

She swallows. “Um…what…what do you expect me to say to that? How… how can you say that when your girlfriend is standing in the lobby by the front doors? It's not fair to her or to me.”

“It really isn’t fair,” the head Librarian charges. “Now you’re stringing along two different women,” he huffs.

“Our new Sheriff is a player,” someone else grouses.

“But I'm not dating Ms. Amato.”

“Yes, you are,” Sadie charges. “They told me you and she were…”

“Who told you?”

“Everyone. Everyone in town thinks that Amanda is your new girlfriend and for some reason you're keeping it on the down low maybe because you think her dad won't approve. We're all trying to figure that part out.”

“Even I thought Amanda Amato was your girlfriend,” the town’s eighty-year-old female mayor agrees.

“No, no,” I tell her. “I don’t have a bride. Amanda Amato isn’t my human girlfriend. Orcs don’t have girlfriends, only mates.” I turn to face Sadie. “And anyway, I've only ever had eyes for you.”

Her lips thin. “That's not true. You ignore me.”

“I don't ignore you. It just looks that way. The problem was that I first met you it was the dark of winter and orcs can’t control themselves at that time. I’ve had to avoid you and wait until spring to be able to treat you as I do now—reasonably calm and able to wait for consent.”

“This is you, acting calm?”

I shrug.

She waves a hand toward the front doors. “But what about Amanda? If you’ve secretly been attracted to me this whole time but had to keep away from me because of your orc nature, does that mean you’ve been leading her on?”

“What does ‘leading on’ mean?”

“Have you told her explicitly that you've scented your bride and it is not her? You don't have to say this in a mean way. It's just that she's got to know the truth because otherwise, you're leaving her hanging. That's not nice either.”

“Is that why she still continues to try and get me alone despite all the times I’ve declined?”

“Yes. You’ve let her think that there's a possibility of something happening between the two of you.”

I glance towards Ms. Amato to discover her staring grimly at the two of us.

“She's angry because she thinks that you’re basically cheating on her right now by hugging and talking to me.”

“How is it possible for this female to think this when I’ve never touched her and we have not spoken any vows? Why would she continue to push for this with a male not of her species?”

There are a few chuckles of disbelief from the cell mates.

Sadie gives me a rueful smile. “I think you're forgetting what a catch you are and how handsome you are in that uniform. You must be in complete denial.”

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